Red Hand of Doom - OOC

So, I've decided to go ahead with running the game. It's only the Red Hand of Doom module, that way we can get right into it. I'll be expecting 1 post/day on weekdays, weekends are flexible, if you can great, if not, no worries. I'll be running 1 combat round/day at the latest, if you haven't posted I'll NPC you or maybe you're character is overwhelmed by what's going on around him and spends a turn in full defence.

Edit: Also, I'll be giving each player one of the +2/+2 feats from the srd (i.e. stealthy) as long as they have some skill points in it. Starting gold will be standard, 13,000gp no more than 1/2 on an item (expection is a +2 weapon).

Edit 2: Up to 2 flaws will be allowed from UA, Traits are also allowed.

As a Standard Action, you may convert one of your spells into a paralyzing effect on all adjacent foes for 1 round. Fort save DC15 + spell level negates

6th: Combat Casting
6th: (Bonus)Draconic Breath

As a Standard Action, you may convert one of your spells into a Supernatural breath weapon that does 2d6 damage per level of the spell expended. The breath weapon is a 30 Cone. Subjects are allowed a Reflex save for half damage (DC = 15 + spell level expended)

Appearance: Long, flowing silver hair blowing wild. Violet eyes with a streak of silver, mostly tan skin, interrupted by occasional patches of smooth silvery skin. Short and lithe, Virashil exudes a sense of power out of her small frame.

Personality: Her draconic ancenstry has influenced her personality -- combined with her elven roots, she takes a long term view on most actions. Normally good-natured, she enjoys conversation

Background: Virashil comes from a small village of Elves deep in the [general setting], where it backs up to a small outcropping of snow-covered peaks. Their village is a close-knit community, of common elves, except for the occasional child born with silver hair or silver flecked skin. It is rumored that ages ago, an old silver dragon inhabited the peaks near their village, and would occasionally come down from the mountain as an elf and live among them for a period of time. It is thought that the blood of this dragon continues to appear every few generations and spawn a child who has the gift for magic.

Virashil left her village some years ago, setting out to discover more about what fuels her inner power. She first travelled to the nearby mountain peaks, looking for any sign of the rumored silver wyrm, but found nothing. Somewhat downfallen, she then set out to find out more about the legend of her people -- to determine if there actually was a silver dragon that inhabited the mountain peaks near her village. She sought out the advice of a few sages, who were able to find out that yes, at one time an old silver dragon named N'al Loranthanxx had made his lair in the peaks. Her spirits buoyed by this bit of information, she journeyed once more to the peaks near her village. The journey was harsh and difficult, for she had ascended above the tree line and trudged through crags of snow and ice. Virashil finally realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew -- for she was no mountaineer, just a fledgling sorceress. Panic ran through her mind as she realized that she may not make it back down the mountain with her life. The biting cold had begun to seep its way into her bones and her mind grew slow. Step after step became more labored. She began to feel warmer... The last thing she remembered was falling down into a snowbank...

She doesn't remember when she regained consciousness. She awoke beneath a heap of soft furs, underneath her was a soft bed of fine linens. The first thing she heard was ,"There my child, do not fret, for you are in a safe place. Go back to sleep and regain your strength."

Hours, or days, later, for she had lost track of time, she awoke and was able to take in her surroundings -- a chamber, hewn out of solid rock, and appointed with plush furnishings, she was laying in a finely adorned bed. A closed door led out of the room. She heard footsteps, and the door opened, an older man, an elf, walked in. She immediately noticed the silver hair and skin, and the fine silk robes that he wore.

"My child, my name is N'al Loranthanxx, and I have watched you for some time. I was impressed with your spirit and tenacious pursuit of finding me. For your thoughtsand instincts were correct, a small portion of my blood runs through your veins. I am glad that you chose to seek me out, for I have forseen that you will be needed by good dragonfolk in a battle against our evil brothers."

Virashil spent many months in the confines of N'al Loranthanxx's lair, atop the snowy peaks, learning about her heritage, and developing her powers. She was even taught how to breath ice! (draconic breath feat)

At the end of her stay, N'al Loranthanxx called her to him, still in his human form, and told her that she had to set out on her own -- but to always remember that she was destined to help out her fellow dragonkind in their time of need -- that she would know what that was when it appeared. In the mean time, however, she was to further develop her powers as a sorceress.

She left, with great remorse, and set out to find her destiny. She changed her name to include N'al, to honor her distance draconic relative. She caught on with an adventuring band of similar ideals and temperment, and have been travelling with them until the present day.....

Modus Operandi: Blaster, ranged support. Uses invisibility and mirror image to protect herself while she hammers foes with magic missile or groups with her icy breath.

Note: I too, played the first encounter or two with Evo and Rhun -- loved the PC so much that I wanted to give it a shot once again. As a poster, I like to think that I have a good track record -- I currently run two PbP games, and participate in 3 others.

Appearance: Tall and slender with copper skin, and brightly yellow serpentine eyes. Yorgan wears his long black hair tied tightly into a club at the nape of the neck. Tidy and fastidious, he dresses in the finest garments he can afford. He favors creamy white shirts and coal black overcoats and pants, with warmly yellow seed pearls sewn into the seams. He has an affinity for cold iron and darkwood in his personal items that seems to give these accouterments a fine richness of appearance.

Personality: He tends to stand somewhat straighter and taller than most shifters, with an uncharacteristically bold and strong force of personality. Yorgan sees most people as means to personal wealth and power. Mistreated as a child, he displays a vengeful spirit toward those who would wrong children of any race. On occasion he has volunteered his time and resources in their aid and has been known to donate large sums of silver to orphanages and charities. He cares little for societal rules, but from time to time feels great pity and guilt regarding those whom he slays with the powers of his mind. Thus he expresses his remorse by helping those in need, especially children. Yorgan would probably make a good leader, but has not yet found a troupe within which he feels sufficiently comfortable to reveal his special gifts, and thus take charge.

Background: An orphan, Yorgan was raised by the Church of the Silver Flame. It is presumed that his parents were slain by the church, but they could not bring themselves to abandon the young shifter and fostered him with an eye toward bringing him over to their side. This might have worked if cruel zealots within the church, racially intollerant of shifters, hadn't abused and mistreated him. As a result, he ran away from his foster family and set off on his own.

Working as a waiter and cook in a fine restaurant in __(tbd? somewhere in Aundair I suppose)___, he discovered he had a well developed nose and a knack for serving and making wines. Plagued by fierce headaches, he was forced to miss work with disturbing frequency, thus assuring that he would only ever become a second rate sommelier.

Once, while cleaning up, he was accosted by toughs behind his place of employment. Searching out with his mind he released the tension growing within his temples as a violent thrust of psychic energy. Shocked and disturbed, he witnessed in horror as the young cutpurses' heads exploded! Disgusted and wary that he would be somehow imprisoned and inquisited for the deaths of the thieves, he fled his rather boring life to pursue a life of travel and adventure, eventually settling in __(tbd?_Big_City_such_as_Waterdeep_or_Sharn)___. He closely guards the secret of his psychic power for fear that they will bring too much attention to past wickedness.

Modus Operandi: Uses Thicken Skin and Dangersense to prepare himself outside of combat and improve his chances of survival. Thanks to powerstones of empathic transfer, he can share some of the burden of healing his comrades. When threatened in public, he typically will fire his crossbow or point a wand and manifest Energy Push, which most people interpret as some form of evocation or orb spell cast from the wand. However, when out of the public eye and strongly threatened, he either lashes out with a devastating Mind Thrust or conjures forth a creature of ectoplasm to defend him and smite his enemies (expanded knowledge: Astral Construct). In addition, he often uses his skill at Use Magic Device (taken cross class) to emulate the tactics of other spellcasters and to allay suspicions of his true psychic nature. A cunning liar, he also has gifts for spying and social interactions.

crunch

Yorgan, the Bold, aka Yorgan Stoutskull
Shifter Wilder (6th)

RoEb Subs levels

1st: Can learn powers from egoist list.
2nd: Regain some power points (= to highest power level known) when shifting ends. (Replaces elude touch.)
6th: Rounds of shifting while under the effect of surging euphoria don't count against shifting duration.

And to join Virashil, is her previous adventuring companion: Duroin Slatefist...

Duroin Slatefist

Description
In most ways, Duroin looks the typical dwarf: stout and solidly built, strong of arm and broad of chest. Still, at 4 1/2' in hieght, he is a bit taller and leaner than the norm, and possessed of agility unusual in the race. His typical craggy features are mostly hidden behind a bushy white beard and thick, long mustache, and his clean shaven head is not apparent beneath the horned helm that he always seems to wear. He dresses simply, preferring function and comfort to style.

Background
Duroin hails from Veilstone, a dwarven mining town hidden deep within the Barrier Peaks. The dwarves there are stout folk, braving the many perils of the mountains to mine the rich veins ot precious metals and gemstone. A hard-working community of veteran miners and stalwart warrior, everyone was expected to pull their weight around Veilstone.

Even from a young age, though, Duroin showed little interest in mining. Fortunately, he showed enough martial skill to find his place among the ranks of the town's defenders. Still, he would often be caught in places in shouldn't be, or playing at bones and cards while on duty. It was determined that Duroin was too impulsive and too easily bored to remain within the guard, and the dwarves decided that he should leave the enclave and seek his fortune out in the world. Not a banishment, per se, Duroin was expected to travel the world and overcome his adventurous streak before returning home.

Unusually good-natured and helpful, Duroin left his home and travelled throughout the nearby lands, lending a hand where he could, and making bold discoveries and fortuous finds. Eventually, he found himself part of a cohort of adventurers of similar mind, and has felt more at home since joining their group than at any time before.

Personality
Duroin is a talkative, boisterous soul, always cheerful and friendly. He is unusually optimistic for one of his folk, and eager to lend a hand to those in need. Still, he has an annoying tendency to tell pointless and exaggerated stories, sometimes annoying his companions. He enjoys games of chance, and has made it a goal to sample the local brew of every town and city he comes to.

MO
Duroin is a flanking sneak-attacker, though he is also more than capable in a straight up fight as well. He is more of a skill rogue than a social rogue, and can function adequately as scout, as well as other necessary jobs such as opening locks and finding traps.

Avaxasir is an unusual elf; he does not display the typical haughty and arrogant demeaner. Indeed, Avaxasir, or "Zazz" as he often introduces himself, prefers the company of non-elves. Zazz enjoys his freedom, and likes fighting, womanizing, and drinking, all of which he is fairly competent at. He likes to joke, and seems to always have a sarcastic comment on hand for most situations. He is quite garrulous, able to talk his companions' ears off, and seeming always to have a story to tell about this or that. Still, he has a dark, mysterious side to him, and this tends to make some people nervous in his presence.

Background
Avaxasir's father, Camthalion, was part of a strange cult among the elfs of the Wytchwood Forest, a follower of the Way of the Blade in the Dark. Their beliefs were quite different from those of most elves, and initiates were well versed in stealth, in the art of striking from the shadows. While not exactly assassins, per se, they knew the value of cutting the head from the snake to kill the body. And the easiest way to cut the head from the snake was to catch it by surprise. The sect would target the leaders of any and all who they decided were enemies of the elves, slaying them in secret.

Camthalion trained his son in the basics of these arts, and when Avaxasir reached adulthood, he was offered membership in the sect. It wasn't long after that, though, the the elf lords found out about some of the acts that the Blades had committed, and decided that their goals and methods were not in line with those of their own. The Blades was disbanded by order of the elf lords, and its members chased from the elven woods.

Disappointed, but always eager for a challenge and new adventure, Avaxasir made his way to the big city. And soon enough, he found that city life agreed with him. There were goods to be stolen, and valuables to be filched.

Last edited by Rhun; Wednesday, 21st May, 2008 at 08:13 PM.

- Rhun

For every one hundred men you send us, Ten should not even be here. Eighty are nothing but targets. Nine of them are real fighters; We are lucky to have them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior. And he will bring the others back. - Heraclitus of Ephesus, 500 BC

Personality
Cold and methodically. Feels superior for his unaging qualities.

Background
Fascinated by undeath and the warforged unique living construct condition, he works on a breakthrough to achieve un-living construct status.

Modus Operandi

I'll be giving each player one of the +2/+2 feats from the srd (i.e. stealthy) as long as they have some skill points in it. Starting gold will be standard, 13,000gp no more than 1/2 on an item (expection is a +2 weapon).
Up to 2 flaws will be allowed from UA, Traits are also allowed.

Quick question: I take it we're not playing Eberron, but the eberron books are available, no? The first character is "lightly flavored" with eberron. The second most certainly isn't.

Currently considering

Halfling Sorcerer Dinorider

Always wanted to play a halfing Dino-rider...
Really not sure if this is kosher but
1st level Use the Wild Cohort to get a Clawfoot Animal Companion
3rd level Mounted Spellcasting
6th level Feat: Invisible Needle [Reserve] (CM)6th level7th level Silverwood Arcanist I can actually build the character without this PRC I think.

Appearance
A lean fierce looking halfling; his shaved head reveals a spiderweb of long scars. Perpetually perched on the back his his mount.

Personality
Brodi's scary appearance is somewhat ameliorated by his quick, dry wit. His gallows humor is sometimes grating, but more often charming.

Background
Brodi was a young, carefree, the seventh of seven boys of the local tribal chief. Blessed in both looks and magical ability he cut a swath through the ladies in his youth and was an active campaigner for tribal unification in the face of the various threats alloyed against the plains.
He had periodic powerful dreams of destruction, but choose (he realizes now) to lose himself in fun and frolic instead of taking them seriously.
Then, one day, a nearby militaristic kingdom excavated some ruins from an older, darker era seeking a weapon of dark power. A band of Elvin mercenaries had hired Brodi's tribe to help guide them to the kingdom's dig. The Elves were themselves in the employ of a rival kingdom, who Brodi never learned. The idealistic young halfling supported working for the elves, driving the kingdom from the plains was good, having others do the fighting for them and getting some pay for it was even better.

The night that Brodi and his fellows guided the elves to the dig site he had his most powerful vision yet. Falling into a kind of trance in his saddle. He awoke to the sound of explosions and screams. He watched from a nearby hill in a stunned stupor as purple energy lanced through his tribe's huts, killing everyone.

He was the only one who survived that night. For a year he was a broken man, riding the plains with the elves (who saw meaning in the fact that he alone survived the destruction and allowed him to ride with them provided he "kept up").
Anything that lives heals, Brodi's regained his balance. His visions are gone, replaced by a crackling energy that lives under his skin. And he's vowed he won't ignore his "gifts" again, he rides the world seeking a worthy target for the malignant energy that he contains.

Modus Operandi
Brodi's spells are comprised of a malignant purple force that warps space and reeks of strangeness. The same power that destroyed his tribe had touched him, and left it's mark.
Brodi can take hits if he has to, but he prefers not to, staying on the fringes of combat and using his spells to blast foes. He's a skirmisher, and, while he's got a decent sense of tactics and won't abandon his companions he doesn't stay still if he can help it.

And something a bit weirderHaving read the first post again this obviously wouldn't fly. Maybe changeling? That'd fit the same sort of theme. Could be interesting to have two in the party.

Changleling (?) Archivist (wannabe ur-priest)

Vren was seperated from his people early he remembers them little. "They sold you" the old elf said. He asked why the old elf bought him, but the elf would never say.
"You have no god". The gaunt old figure said, "for your people are cast out and abandoned."
"Thus you are doomed an eternity of anguish when you perish; your soul will to burn in perdition for all eternity."
And Vren was very scared, for it sounded most horrible.
"But in this life, at least, I can help you. For there are ways to gain the benefits of the gods without bending your knee. To be cast out is most horrible, but it gives you freedom. Among all the people in the world you alone do not have to abase yourself before those powermongers. In this life, I can give you power."

And thus Vren became a student of the old elf. He learned to use treachery and guile to steal scrolls from traveling priests, and in time to unlock their secrets. He learned dark secrets and even how to cast the spells of divinity himself.

Then, one day, the old elf was killed, stealing from a death priest. And Vren was alone. Within a year he realized that his people had a god after all, that the old man had lied. And he went back to the shallow grave he'd dug for the old elf to spit upon it but he found the earth loosened.
Now he travels the world in disguise, looking for answers he fears he will never find.

Honestly a skulk Archivist is a terrible idea... (ELC + Hit Dice = Caster Level 4). I should probably find a race that works better (for some reason the idea of a skulk appealed to me -- probably the innate non-detection). Maybe a goblin?
But I figured I'd see what the DM thought before pushing something out.

renau1g: Please give me your unalloyed opinion. If you think the ideas aren't cool (AKA are cheesy BS) just let me know and I'll try to roll up something a bit more "core". This is just what popped into my head.

I am in an interesting period of my life; I will post in games that I run three times a week (M,W,F); and try to maintain obligations in existing games.

...disquieting...

There was no end to his patience and endurance. He played day and night, his obsession was somewhat disquieting. It was less as if he were playing to dispel gloom or beguile tedium than as if he were giving himself up to the fangs of gaming devils."
Kawabata Yasunari - The Master of Go

Appearance: Hurrow's skin is weathered and his hair is long and dark, braided in places. His forearms are heavily tattoed. He is relatively tall and thin for a shifter and is heavily muscled but his icey blue eyes show a keen awareness of everything around him.

Personality: Hurrow's personality is that of the packleader. Leader, by strength and wisdom. He will shout battle tactics to comrades when is his normal form. He is not educated in formal manners and not a people person, so others are best speaking for him. Hurrow has a place in his heart for the young shifters he rescued and would do anything for them. He sees his party members as part of his pack as well, and will defend them at all costs.

Background: When Hurrow was younger he predicted a great storm would ravage the plains where his tribe lived. The elders scoffed at Hurrow's prediction, and when Hurrow pressed the issue, the elders told him to leave then. Hurrow left, and within half a week a storm was brewing.

Twisters ravaged the plains, driving away game, and killing most of Hurrow's tribe. Hurrow returned after the skies were clear and found a few children that had survived the storm. The children looked up to Hurrow. They called him their packleader, both from his uncanny ability to summon creatures to aid them, and because he was their elder and their leader.

Hurrow took the children to a nearby town and helped them start a new life. Every once in a while though he will return to town and share stories with them or bring them gifts.

Modus Operandi: Secondary melee thanks to predator form. Can be a good scout with aerial form(takes this form while in wilderness). Primary caster: battlefield control and summoning/Secodary blaster/Secondary healer(use wands and vigor spells)

Graf - I like the halfling battle sorceror idea, lightly armored sprintly around the battlefield, counters the little one's slow speed. (and it's dungeon-friendly ) BTW you're right about not being Eberron, but I like how halflings are done there.

As for the second idea, it could work, it just needs more fleshing out. I like that they're a little off